A dozen or more flowers on 4–12-inch tall stalks in a open, loose cluster crown a leafy mat up to a foot or more in diameter. Note the mat of flexible (not prickly), grass-like leaves and small, white flowers with stamens tipped with showy reddish anthers. Frequent along open mountain trails and meadows.

FLOWERS: May–July. Loose clusters of flowers with 5 white petals 1/4–3/8-inch long (5–8 mm) with rounded tips, longer than sepals (beneath petals); sepals with pointed tips and obviously glandular hairy; 10 stamens tipped with reddish anthers, fading to yellow. Note that stalks and sepals are covered with sticky glands.

LEAVES: Basal and opposite on stem. Thick mat of flexible, linear, grass-like basal leaves 3/8–4-inches long (1–10 cm); stem leaves similar, opposite, with 5 or more pairs.

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly soils, scree; pinion-juniper, ponderosa, spruce-fir, alpine meadows.

ELEVATION: 6,500–13,000 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CO, NM, TX, UT, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: 4 species of Eremogone in NM all with grass-like leaves. The white flowers with obvious glandular hairs on stems and sepals and mat of flexible leaves distinguish this species. Prickly Sandwort, E. aculeata, in nw NM, has a prickly mat of leaves. Eremogone was formerly grouped with Arenaria, which have elliptic to oval leaves.  Spreading Sandwort,  Arenaria lanuginosa  var. saxosa, has elliptic leaves and forms loose clumps. Spotted Saxifrage, Saxifraga bronchialis, has petals with reddish and yellow dots and white stamens and anthers.

NM COUNTIES: Widespread in NM, except eastern plains, in mid- to high-elevation habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Dona Ana, Grant, Lincoln, Los Alamos, McKinley, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Union.